Are we stepping into a new civilization? This is the new question which is now lingering in our minds—scientists, religious leaders, thinkers, forecasters, seers, philosophers and the like.
The environment shows us that we are leading new epoch, whether like it or not. We have had scourges of diseases, pandemics, wars, governments’ overthrown and democratic recessions the world over. Historians, sociologists and futurists and the hosts of others, all of whom, contend that desperate and not friendly activities are at our doorsteps. Democracy is in recession in the world, inclusive of our own land.
Today, we have Covid-19 and its various strains and there seems to be no end to its lineage. Covid -19 has given us –all mankind—a shock for our lives. It has made us all to rethink, re-evaluate, reassess and change our modes of life and living drastically. From royalties to paupers, that is the state of the human condition today. And our prophets have not concurred on a time line from this drastic and calamitic scourge.
The world is always in turmoil. There continues to be crisis after crisis, and the Middle-East is the hot bed. The United Nations has become impotent in executing its original mandate of peace in the world. We are now witnessing scourges after scourges, and the latest being the fall of the Afghanistan government.
Our world is ever at with ourselves. We are not stepping up into a new moment in history, rather we always in history. The same can be said of the deification of Hitler in the Third Reich, of the Chinese glorification of Mao-Tse-Tung throughout Communist China, and the cult of other dictators in the established totalitarian governments of our time, and those in the making today.
A more serious move to reignite a consternation of peace in the world was on June 15, when the United Nations, by the full endorsement of the General Assembly, adopted Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday October 2 as Non-Violence Day. The world marks the his 152nd birth.
World leaders must not think that winning an election make them leaders. More so, if they win by slim majorities. We are living in dangerous times—very dangerous times. The hard question is: Can we entrust the fateful decisions of war and peace, and through that the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness to the billions of people on this planet to the few magnates of power? Do our leaders have the wisdom of the serpent and the innocence of the dove necessary to lead us to a lasting peace and a magnificent future?
We must be inclined to answer this serious question in the words of the Psalmist: “Put not your trust in princes and rulers in whom there is no help (Psalm 146:3).” Gandhi placed before us, a higher standard—a standard based on an enduring spirit of personal service founded on individual responsibility and a moral imperative. The challenge for leaders is to live up to their fundamental responsibility as human beings and to treat others as themselves.